Adobe Theater brings the 'Calendar Girls' to life on stage

Aug. 28—When Annie's husband John dies of leukemia, she and best friend Chris resolve to raise money for a new couch in the local hospital waiting room.

They manage to persuade four fellow Women's Institute members to pose nude with them for an "alternative" calendar, with a little help from hospital porter and amateur photographer Lawrence.

The news of the women's charitable venture spreads like wildfire, and hordes of reporters and photographers soon descend on the small village of Knapely in the Yorkshire Dales.

The Adobe Theater is staging the comedy from Sept. 1-24. It was a movie starring Helen Mirren in 2003.

"What sells, they discover, is flesh," director Nancy Sellin said. "So they decide they're going to pose nude.

"They're all over 55, so they all have the considerations of body image."

Although Chris and Annie, like most of the women at the Women's Institute, don't like the way Marie, the local president, runs the chapter with derision. They find much of what goes on there, especially the monthly presentations, banal and devoid of enlightenment and fun. Just as banal was last year's fundraising calendar, featuring local bridges, which raised a meager £75.60.

Annie likes the idea of a nude calendar, tastefully shot, as it is analogous to one of horticultural-loving John's last statements. He maintained plants are the most glorious in the latter stages of their life, after which they quickly go to seed.

Based on the true story of eleven Women's Institute members who posed nude for a calendar to raise money for the Leukaemia Research Fund, "Calendar Girls" opened at the Chichester Festival Theatre and has since become the fastest-selling play in British theater history.

"It's really joyful, it's a celebration of friendship and fun," Sellin said.

Organizers have wanted to schedule the show since 2020, but were prevented by the pandemic, Sellin said. The play requires 14 actors, plus three understudies.

"It was too big a production," she explained.

The "Girls" are played by Georgia Athearn, Michelle Bunzel, Duchess Dale, Carolyn Hogan, Stephanie Jones and Rhonda Ware. Supporting them are Leslee Richards, Diana Segara, Kay Peters Johnson, Jessica Alden, Joel Miller, Neil Faulconbridge, Jason Godin and Scott Claunch.